


Know Thyself

by shadow_Mage



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: DMC5 canon compliant, Dante being Dante, Dante might be a closet scholar, Gen, He'll learn... eventually, Post DMC5, Sibling Rivalry, Vergil clearly underestimates his brother, Vergil still being Vergil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 20:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18301478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadow_Mage/pseuds/shadow_Mage
Summary: Trapped in Hell, Dante gains another point in the endless battle with his brother while delivering a poignant bit of advice.





	Know Thyself

“You know Verge, I think you’re getting tired.” The elder twin slid back away from his brothers forward assault. They both took a moment to pause.

“Imbecile,” he grunted.

“No really.” He dodged from an incoming slash and smacked Vergil behind the head with a nun chuck frosting his hair in the process. “I’m up by one.” Vergil huffed.

“That last point did not count as you cheated.” His eyes glittered dangerously as he delivered a myriad of rapid-fire cuts barely missing his brother.

“Cheated? Ho, ho, ho, are you kidding me, Mr. I threw Qliphoth dust in my brother’s eyes, teleported away, and triggered just to pile drive him into the ground?” Vergil grinned maliciously as he stood straight.

“If you expected the move, then it clearly was not cheating.” They continued to circle one another until Dante quirked his head to the side with a sour expression.

“Asshole, teleporting is cheating. I can’t anticipate that shit.” He ducked and rolled from his brother as he suddenly appeared before him. “See, cheating.” Dante smiled having skillfully avoided the charge, although to be fair the elder uncharacteristically telegraphed his move. Vergil missed his strike growling with frustration. Perhaps he was tired and had underestimated his little brother.

“I am merely taking advantage of the gifts I was given, that is not cheating. I do not cheat. I have no need for it.” Vergil was obviously insulted but Dante just grinned. He knew how to get his dander up and as that thought drifted thru his mind a brilliant stroke of genius lit up the younger twin’s synapses.

“Fine, then the gloves are off.” Dante sneered as he raced head first toward his brother managing to kick up dust as he ran thru the barren landscape. Vergil braced ahead of him with Yamato clenched tightly into his hand expecting another show of brute force. His brother was anything if not predictable. He watched the minute shifts in his brother’s movements as he planned his own actions when suddenly his eyes went wide.

“No!” His voice was raw and choked as Dante disappeared sliding into his feet then suddenly reappearing to knock the breath from him as he fell to the ground. Yamato slid spinning in lazy circles from his hands. His younger brother straddled him forcing his arms up over his head as he leaned in close to his ear.

“Yes!”

Frozen in a time bubble, Vergil was momentarily helpless. He knew Dante had the ability to freeze pockets of time, but he had clearly underestimated his ability to localize the time displacement so accurately. Vergil was at his mercy for the next few minutes. He quickly ran thru scenarios to escape shifting his mind from offense to defense when it happened, and he jerked against the invisible tethers to his limbs. 

“Stop it you… child. Ngh! No!”

Dante had the most exasperating shit-eating grin plastered to his face as he tickled his older brother furiously. Vergil’s face bloomed a bright red as he tried to hold back the laughter. Only his twin brother knew exactly where he was ticklish and with the expert ease of a fiend Dante went in for the kill. Rough calloused hands smoothed up his stomach to his chest under his clothing as the chill of such movement shocked him. Fingers brushed sensitive tender spots on his side and under his arms but unable to pull his arms down to protect those spots he was indeed helpless. He tried to thrash but only succeeded in shaking from side to side as Dante wriggled his eyebrows moving his offending hands to new tortuous spots.

“Ah, bro what’s wrong? Say uncle and I’ll stop.”

“Nah, na, nooo!”

“Say Uncle”

“Ngh”

“Say it Verge or I’ll keeping tickling ya till ya pee your pants.” The abject horror that spread over the Dark Slayers face was truly priceless as he suddenly burst into laughter while shaking his head in slow motion. Dante leaned back momentarily halting his assault as he took a moment to readjust the localized time that surrounded his brother. “Well look at you. Helpless beneath me. I win.”

Vergil spat venom, “You infantile…fyaa ha ah arh ha… Idiot. Let me….fttt ha ha nnngh. Stop!” His brother shrugged putting his hands up in the air and giving the elder a breather. “Get off of me and let me go!”

“Nope!” He adjusted his weight over his brother’s hips as if settling in for a long wait. “I’m just getting started.” Vergil glared at him red faced with tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

“I hate you,” he seethed thru gritted teeth.

“But? Do you?” He leaned forward slowly and assaulted his brother in a new spot causing the elder to sputter once more. This time when he stopped Vergil’s expression had softened from cold hatred to tepid acceptance of the situation. “I think you’ve been so wound up with trying to gain power that you forgot the single most important thing Pops taught us.”

Vergil sighed taking advantage of Dante’s distraction to mentally try and poke at the confines of the time barrier. “Please enlighten me.”

“Careful there, Verge. I’m about to rock your world.” He playfully bounced on his hips causing the elder to groan at the abuse. Dante suddenly pushed to his feet and stood. Vergil blinked up at him still unable to move. Dante smiled a bittersweet smile before placing a hand to his heart and waving his other hand out to the side to bow as he spoke.

“ Mastering others is strength  
Mastering yourself is true power.”

Vergil’s eyes widened as he suddenly felt himself free from Dante’s trap. He blinked as his brother calmly turned his back on him and walked away. He lifted to his elbows and watched as Dante continued over to Yamato. The blade shimmered beneath him as he held his hand above Yamato and she levitated up to meet his grasp. “Ok, so I’ve said my peace and now I figure your gonna want to argue that point with more aggressive negotiations.” Again, Vergil blinked at his brother aware that he had indeed underestimated him. He pulled himself up to a sitting position with one knee up draped with an arm while his other arm braced him upright. A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he hesitated a moment then shuffled to his feet. Dante grinned at him over his shoulder.

“I will deny it with my dying breath that we are anything but equals. But you Dante, you… are both my bane… and my blessing, thank you.”

“Sure! I’d be happy to kick your ass as many times as you need me to.” Vergil’s stoic glare returned, and Dante laughed tossing Yamato at him. “Ok, where were we? I believe I’m now up by two.” He feigned a boxing stance bouncing from side to side while punching the air.

Vergil looked beyond his brother even as Dante felt the hairs on his neck stand on end. Their game needed to wait. “And I believe out first priority should be to clear away unwanted guests, before we settle this. Hell has become so crowded as of late. Shall we?”

Dante chose a spot and a hapless demon just beyond his brother and grinned as his own sword appeared to his hand, “Oh, I’m up for another party!”

“Then by all means, brother, let’s dance.”

**Author's Note:**

> Quote by Lao Tzu
> 
> Disclaimer: Capcom owns all rights to the characters.  
> I own nothing but a small home with two cats and that's debatable.


End file.
